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Brief Synopsis

Matt Stevens is the big man at high school. He sweats the students for protection money, acquires copies of tests for a fee, and has rigged the votes so he can beat Kelly in the election for student president. Aside from his anointed acolytes, Matt is almost universally despised. His parents are obscenely rich and spend their time travelling in Europe rather than giving him the parental guidance he needs. Things begin to get ugly when some of the teens resist his power and show Matt up at the drag race.

Handsome, wealthy teenager Matt Stevens leads a gang of ruffians comprised of Slick, Dusty, Matt's girl friend, Lita Owens, and his young, adoring sidekick, Homer "Cricket" Davis. Matt runs a lucrative business charging "protection" money and selling stolen tests to the students at his high school. He also hopes to win the position of student body president, and to ensure his victory, Matt intimidates the students and tears up the posters of his challenger, Kelly Roberts. In the library, Cricket spots pretty newcomer Wanda Anderson and asks Matt to arrange a date with her. Wanda is also noticed by Kelly's best friend, Bob Williams, who is too shy to ask her out. Lita hears Matt talking about Wanda and reacts jealously, but is pleased when Matt orders her to arrange a date between Wanda and Cricket. At a student dance Matt has organized, Bob finally asks Wanda to dance, while in the principal's office Matt's flunkies stack the votes to ensure that Matt is elected student body president. After he is announced the winner of the election, Matt names Cricket treasurer and announces that dances, with a door fee, will be held each week. Although the profits are supposed to go toward buying a bulldog puppy as a school mascot, Matt and his boys secretly pocket much of the cash. At home, Matt has all the money and belongings he could desire but wants only the attention of his parents, who travel constantly. Although he bullies his servants, when alone in his room, Matt cries and clutches his prized possession, the gold coin his father once gave him. At the next dance, Lita informs Wanda that she is to be Cricket's date, but Wanda rebuffs her. The principal calls Matt in to ask for his help in identifying the school bullies, after which Matt, confident that he can get whatever he wants, promises Cricket that he will procure Wanda for him that evening. At the soda shop that night, however, Wanda dances with Bob, and Cricket urges Matt to break in on them. When Wanda once again refuses to dance with Cricket, Matt insults her, prompting Bob to punch him. Their fight is halted by the manager, and Bob walks Wanda home, where she kisses him. That weekend, the teens enjoy wholesome car races, but when Matt appears and offers his coin as prize money, the races turn competitive and dangerous. Kelly manages to beat Matt's expensive car and wins the coin, to Matt's irritation. Hoping to intimidate Kelly into returning the coin, Matt grabs Cricket and follows Kelly in the car. They are trying to force him off the road when Kelly's tire blows and his car careens off a cliff. Matt runs to check the wreckage and, upon finding Kelly dead, retrieves his coin and instructs a distraught Cricket to keep quiet. When Kelly fails to appear at the soda shop, his friends search for him and find the body. Meanwhile, Matt tries to call his father but cannot reach him. Matt then holds a meeting of his gang, during which he attempts to increase his popularity by offering them free access to the stolen tests and presenting them with the bulldog puppy he has purchased. He also instructs Slick and Dusty to steal the latest biology test from the principal's office, with keys Matt has painstakingly stolen and copied. The boys are spotted by the principal, and although he cannot identify them, he quickly changes all the locks, effectively ruining Matt's business. While Bob calls a meeting at his house that evening to generate support to challenge Matt's power, Cricket asks Matt why he has failed to get Wanda to date him. In response, Matt approaches Wanda, but she calls him repulsive. That night, he and Cricket follow Wanda as she is walking to Bob's and, when she refuses to join them, throw her in the car. They drive to the lake, where Cricket grows distressed as Matt forces himself on Wanda. After Matt throws Cricket out, Wanda spots the coin in Matt's pocket and, realizing he killed Kelly, flees and hides in the bushes until she can run to Bob's house with the news. Meanwhile, Cricket goes to the soda shop in hysterics and announces that Matt caused Kelly's accident. When Matt arrives at the soda shop, the teens surround him threateningly. He begs for mercy as Bob punches him, then throws the coin in the dirt. Matt collapses in tears, the coin clutched in his hand, as the police arrive.